A Great Tea Party

by Gregory
(UK)

When my daughter was six years old, we, her parents organized a Children's tea party around the neighbourhood for her birthday. She was fascinated with Victorian English traditions and so was desperate to experience something that the English, in their own time, did.

All the kids from the neighbourhood were invited, and everybody had to wear some sort of costume appropriate for a tea party - such as fancy dresses for the girls, and miniature suits for the guys. In the party, there were plenty of great activities. These included: Pinning the nose on a poster of an English king while blindfolded, tasting tea from teacups and figuring out what flavor they were, and playing musical chairs to classical English music. My favorite activity, personally, was pinning the nose on the king, as firstly, my daughter won the competition and won a lot of candy, and secondly, all of her best friends were playing it and they had a lot of fun. Musical chairs was very exciting for everybody but I couldn't help feeling guilty for those left without chairs.

The menu was really simple - we had the tea, of course, an English roast beef and then cheesecake which all the kids liked as it was simple and very well cooked. The adults appreciated all of it too, of course.

We had all of the parents there as well to watch over the children, but to make sure everyone was safe we removed all sharp objects from reachable areas and told all the kids about hazards. The kids listened well to our advice and had fun without endangering themselves.

Me and my daughter painted a set of teacups over, and everybody participated in a raffle in which they won candy or a teacup which they could take home.

The funniest part of the party was when a boy pretended to actually be a Victorian Englishman and refused to speak to anybody unless they spoke ''his tongue'' and brought his chariot around. It was all in good heart and everybody laughed.

My daughter tells me that it was her favorite birthday since it was all so bright, tasty, and all of her friends were there. We have a tape of the party, and every so often we watch it and reminisce.

The most memorable moments were seeing the children happy and enjoying the things we organized. It gives a feeling of gratification and success